Holly House Community Resource Centre awarded grant to support young people
Southside Partnership Holly House Community Resource Centre with support from The Community Foundation for Ireland was able to run a personal development Programme. €2000 was awarded from one of our donors to support a personal development programme for young people.
The project delivered seven sessions over a six week personal development Programme for a group of eight ‘At Risk’ teens age 18 and 17yrs living in Loughlinstown and Ballybrack in Dublin. Many of the young people they will be working with have been identified as at risk of early school leaving and addiction. This programme aims to build their trust in each other and the Holly House team so they can continue to engage. While this programme recognises that many of the issues facing these young people are deep rooted due to social disadvantage, family addiction, generations of early school leaving, unemployment and poverty; they believe that working in a creative non-judgemental way can begin to build their trust in themselves, build their confidence and begin to take charge of their own path.
The project was run over six weeks and each week had specific theme including; ‘Healthy Lifestyle’, ‘Personal development’, ‘CV and Interview skills’ and ‘Drug and Alcohol Awareness Workshops’. Sessions were led by topics that arose from conversations with the young people such as intimidation and bullying, anxiety and bereavement. Young people had the opportunity to share feelings, issues and solutions with each other. All of this was done in a safe, respected environment. Feedback from young people and families was very positive with some seeing real change. One Mother of a 15 yr old who attended the programme stated ‘I see a difference in his attitude towards me and his sister, he’s getting out of bed earlier and helping more around the house’ with the teenager stating ‘It helps me think things through about why I don’t want to go to school, I’m going to give it another shot in September’.
Following feedback from the programme Sandra King the Coordinator from Holly House said “this funding allowed them to work with some of the most vulnerable young people living in the area. It provided access to opportunities for those experiencing high levels of isolation, anxiety, addiction (personal and family) and early school leaving. It helped provide a safe structured space for young people to feel less alone and it will continue to support these young people to build their confidence and life skills. We are extremely grateful to The Community Foundation for Ireland and look forward to working with you in the future.”
If we want to ensure Ireland’s future success as a fair and equitable society, then we must start by taking care of our children and young people. We have supported the development of children and young people in Ireland for a number of years through a variety of ways.
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